Squishy Treasure Hunt (and bonus ice pack)

by chattamama on January 3, 2012

Bugs & Squish & Goo! Yeah, I thought he’d like it…..

I saw these squishy fish aquariums posted at Teach Preschool. I didn’t have any little fish hanging around but I did have some other treasures that needed a purpose in life. I also didn’t have any hair gel. To be honest I didn’t think they made that stuff anymore. I always try to use things we already have in the house but I did make an exception here. We used every last drop and are now reusing the bottle to hold our homemade bubble solution so I think I get a pass on that one.

Hopefully you have all these things on hand. Except maybe the hair gel. Can’t blame you there!

Zip Top Baggies – if you have some you’ve already used that’s best. We had some left over from vacation that couldn’t be used again to hold food so that was perfect.

Hair Gel – Oy.

Food Coloring

Treasures – any little trinkets you can find around the home. Look at your things through the eyes of your child while rounding these up! I had some plastic bugs, polished stones and beads I no longer had a use for.

1. So that Noah could help (and I could help him) I placed the baggies in one of his cups. This freed up my hands to help him dump the big tub-o-gel. He did quite well on his own though! He chose what colors went in and named them before unscrewing each lid. (color identification & fine motor)

2. Squeeze out all the air before sealing your bag. Double check your seal. Check your seal again. Now hand it over and LET THEM SQUISH! We did very well the first time, but check out our…ok MY…party foul on bag #2. Thank goodness for that cardboard!

3. Now add your treasures! Noah has a thing for cockroaches. Mainly because I have a thing for them. No creepy crawler is more unwelcome in my home and always freak out when I see one. Noah doesn’t know the names of too many bugs but he can articulate “cockroach” as well as any 5-year-old. Only it’s more like “AHHH! Cockroach AHH!!” which I think is the appropriate reaction. Anyway, be sure you’re using actual treasures. Things your kiddo will truly treasure, or at least be into.

In go the buggers! Mama sealed it up and the hunt is on! Our second bag held stones and beads.

The beads added a fun texture so that’s something to consider while rounding up treasure. How would it feel?

We taped them to the window to let the sunshine light them up…

We even tossed them back and forth…

He was happy to continue squishing them on his own. I just made sure that cardboard was beneath him!

When he’s done squishing I’ll be sticking these in the freezer. They’ll make great little ice packs for his next crash-boom. Actually I think just seeing them again will likely make him forget why he needed it in the first place 🙂